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| Chloral | |
|---|---|
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| IUPAC name | Trichloroethanal |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS number | 75-87-6 |
| SMILES |
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| Properties | |
| Molecular formula | C2HCl3O |
| Molar mass | 147.387 g/mol |
| Density | 1.512 g/cm3 @ 20 °C |
| Melting point |
−57.5 °C |
| Boiling point |
97.8 °C |
| Solubility in water | forms soluble hydrate |
| Solubility in ethanol | miscible |
| Solubility in diethyl ether | miscible |
| Solubility in chloroform | miscible |
| Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) Infobox references |
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Chloral, also known as trichloroacetaldehyde, is the organic compound with the formula Cl3CCHO. This aldehyde is a colourless oily liquid that is soluble in a wide range of solvents. It reacts with water to form chloral hydrate, a once widely used sedative and hypnotic substance.
Production
Chloral can be produced by chlorination of ethanol, as reported in 1832 by Justus von Liebig.
Key reactions
Aside from its tendency to hydrate, chloral is most notable as a building block in the synthesis of DDT. For this purpose, chloral is treated with chlorobenzene in the presence of a catalytic amount of sulfuric acid:
- Cl3CCHO + 2 C6H5Cl → Cl3CCH(C6H4Cl)2 + H2O
This reaction was described by Othmar Zeidler in 1874.1
References
- ^ Othmar Zeidler (1874). "Verbindungen von Chloral mit Brom- und Chlorbenzol". Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft 7 (2): 1180–1181. doi:.
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- This page was last modified on 9 August 2008, at 18:36.
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